Acoustical ceiling tile or panel sections are customarily used in the construction of suspended ceilings in residential, public, and commercial buildings. In almost all constructions, an opening for securing a ceiling accessory such as a lighting fixture, sound speaker, sprinkler head, security camera, air vents (e.g. fans, air conditioning, heating, etc.) is required to complete the ceiling construction. The customary procedure is to simply cut an opening from the tile or panel and then cover the opening with an inflexible covering (frequently referred to as a grille) for the particular ceiling accessory. The coverings are typically made of unattractive, rigid materials such as metal, plastic or wood. Such conventional coverings are readily discernable colorwise and structurally from the ceiling tile panel section itself.
The patent literature abounds with teachings directed towards the manufacture of acoustical tiles which absorb, alter or prevent the transmission of sound waves or other substances therethrough. Such illustrative prior patent teachings include U.S. Pat. No. 4,248,647 to Herron et al which discloses an acoustical ceiling tile covered with a non-porous decorative plastic film. The tile is made by initially stretching a thin decorative film over an acoustical base in the form of a picture frame surrounding a recessed area, and adhesively securing the film to the side and/or back of the acoustical base and then heat shrinking the continuous film to produce a distortion free decorative surface thereupon.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,607,466 to Allred there is disclosed an acoustical panel which has a porous layer directly bonded onto a rigid layer. Reference is also made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,043 to Kurrasch which discloses an acoustical panel formed upon an open frame, wherein at least one septum is centrally located within the frame opening and in contact with the frame members. The Kurrasch panels may be covered with a decorative fabric or a synthetic sheet material. U.S. Pat. 4,611,445 to Pressley discloses a ceiling panel of mineral wool fibers mixed with lithium carbonate, wherein a decorative surface is attached thereto for exposure to a room's interior. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,377,059 to Kuhr, there is disclosed a ceiling system in which at least one ceiling tile includes a removable central portion for covering an opening in tile. The opening is made by a high pressure fluid set cutter which provides a substantially vertical fine cut of a width no greater than .020 inches. The removable central portion is disclosed as consisting of the cut out section of the tile uniformly cut at a tight tolerance vertical cut (e.g. less than 0.02 inches) so as to freely interchange with other cut out tile sections. Spline members attached outwardly from the vertical cut and resting upon surface of the ceiling tile support the removable central portion upon the back-side peripheral margin of a centrally disposed opening or hole within the tile so as to cover the opening thereby. The removable central portion is described as being vertically demountable in that it may be raised so as to disengage the spline member from the tile upper surface, if desired, and slid edgewise through the opening. The open portion may be covered by a translucent material such as a light shielding lens for lighting fixtures, a foraminous material for an air distribution system, and a protruding or recessed shielding to provide a raised or recessed ceiling effect. U.S. Pat. No. 2,362,859 to Rosenblatt discloses an acoustical tile having a number of surface openings which communicate into a chamber filled with a sound absorbing material.
The patent literature fails to appreciate that suspended ceiling panel sections possessing acoustical absorbing qualities, may be of a construction which includes as part of its integrated structure a concealed porous opening permeable to the transmission of detectable or measurable substances therethrough. None of the aforementioned patents pertain to the. transmission of materials such as signals, heat, circulating air (e.g. air conditioned or heated forced air), sound, light waves through an acoustical panel section which includes as an integral part of its structure a flexible, camouflaging member which ocularly conceals an open or porous region of the acoustical panel section. If it becomes necessary to transmit any matter (albeit in the form of light or sound waves, air movement, such as in air conditioning, heating, venting, humidifying, electronic surveillance, etc.), the prior art solution typically entails covering a ceiling opening with an open grid or grille of a substantially rigid construction. A supple camouflaging member permeable to the transmission of detectable substances therethrough circumscribed or bordered by an acoustical tile frame and secured thereto would not only afford a more aesthetic permeable acoustical tile but also allow for unique functional uses heretofore not feasible under conventional acoustical ceiling tile practices.